The silence around The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 has done a lot to define it so far. Without regular official information from Nintendo, fans are left to guess about its plot and mechanics. Thankfully, certain details about the game and its place as a sequel give players hints about what it'll be like. For instance, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 uses the same overworld map as the first game, which means players will probably get to visit modified versions of Hyrule Castle, Kakariko Village, the Great Plateau, and so on. The sequel will likely introduce new ideas but focus on enhancing core features from the first Breath of the Wild.
If that's the case, then hopefully Nintendo has plans to adjust the Ancient Shrines in Breath of the Wild. The Shrines serve a few vital purposes in Breath of the Wild, making Link stronger while helping reward players for traversing the world, but there's still room for improvement. The vast quantity of Shrines begs for a little simplification, and in the process, Nintendo could make some Shrines both more challenging and more memorable. Fusing some Shrines into a handful of extra-large mini dungeons that stand alongside traditional Ancient Srhines could be a great way to set Breath of the Wild 2 apart from the first game.
Breath of the Wild's Approach to Dungeoneering
Breath of the Wild famously took a very different stance on dungeons than most of its predecessors. Generally, Zelda games have a significant number of long dungeons filled with combat trials and puzzles that share a certain mechanical theme. The four Divine Beasts in Breath of the Wild certainly have unique mechanics built into them, but they're much smaller and simpler than most Zelda dungeons, typically requiring very little time to complete. While the Divine Beasts made very compelling dungeon settings with moving connections to Link's lost friends, many players felt these dungeons were too short to satisfy their wanderlust.
It seems likely that Nintendo intended for Ancient Shrines to make up for the game's limited amount of dungeons. Each Ancient Shrine in Breath of the Wild offers either a puzzle similar to that of a traditional Zelda dungeon puzzle, or a combat trial similar to a Zelda dungeon miniboss. Rather than being a part of a larger dungeon, Shrines offer a single challenge, then give Link some rewards and send him on his way. These bite-sized dungeons add up to quite a bit of exploration, fighting, and puzzle solving to be done in Breath of the Wild.
There's no doubt that Ancient Shrines are valuable in Breath of the Wild. The Spirit Orbs that they offer can increase Link's maximum Hearts and Stamina, their treasure chests can supply Link with powerful weapons, and the Shrines themselves serve as convenient teleportation points that let Breath of the Wild players navigate the map. Unfortunately, since Shrines are all isolated experiences, they largely fail to provide the sense of progression or long-term challenge that a full Zelda dungeon does. Some of them provide compelling individual tests of skill, but as separate objectives, they don't serve the same function as a dungeon, and many Shrines fail to be memorable.
Adding Ancient Shrines Together
Even though Nintendo hasn't commented on the possibility yet, it seems very likely that Breath of the Wild 2 will offer a new set of Ancient Shrines to empower Link. Spirit Orbs streamline stat increases in a great way, and teleporting to Shrines seems like too big of a convenience to give up when navigating Breath of the Wild's sprawling depiction of Hyrule. It's possible that, as a new threat comes to Hyrule, new Ancient Shrines will replace the old ones to help Link prepare for another threat to the world, simultaneously adjusting the physical arrangement and total number of Shrines.
If Nintendo plans on changing the placement and number of Shrines, it could cut down on their total by fusing a few Shrines together. Since each Shrine offers the challenge of one traditional dungeon room, Nintendo can easily string two or three Shrine challenges together into a sort of Super Shrine that rewards players with multiple Spirit Orbs. Expanded Shrines could offer multiple puzzles that use one rune on Link's Sheikah Slate, pit him against a series of different combat challenges, or blend combat with puzzle solving like a traditional dungeon. As a result, Breath of the Wild 2 could offer players bigger rewards for overcoming bigger challenges.
A small set of Shrines that are longer than most could really help give Breath of the Wild 2, especially if its plot is structured around short, unorthodox dungeons like the Divine Beasts. A series of mini dungeon Shrines could give Zelda fans more of the indoor exploration that they felt Breath of the Wild was missing, and they could make some puzzles included in Shrines more memorable too. Breath of the Wild 2 may be a direct sequel, but it could also stand to create an identity for itself with such mechanically distinct Shrines.
Link Needs New Challenges
A fresh batch of Ancient Shrines with puzzles scultped toward Link's new abilities in Breath of the Wild 2 seem like just what the game needs. The Breath of the Wild 2 trailer from E3 2021 certainly suggested that Link will get some strange new powers, potentially thanks to his newly enchanted arm. Shrines helped players master Stasis, Remote Bombs, Cryonis, and Magnesis in Breath of the Wild, so they're perfect for helping players adjust to Link's new abilities, especially if some of those Shrines are longer than usual to provide players with new heights of challenge.
Breath of the Wild 2 needs to offer players more dungeon-crawling opportunities in one way or another. As beloved as the first Breath of the Wild was, fans agreed that the brevity of its dungeons was a shame. Many hope that traditional Zelda dungeon designs will return in the sequel, but since it's reusing the map of Hyrule from the first game, there may not be room for such large new structures. If that's the case, then expanded Shrines could really help make up the deficit.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 releases in 2022 for Nintendo Switch.